Comparison

Zavala vs MarkWell

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Zavala

This app offers a modern approach to outlining, providing a full suite of features. It supports gestures, keyboard shortcuts, and multiple windows for efficient organization and content creation. Easily import and export in various formats, sync across devices, and customize your outlining experience.

Highlights
  • OPML Import & Export
  • Markdown Export
  • iCloud Syncing & Sharing
  • Nested Tags
  • Image Embedding
  • Keyboard Shortcuts
  • Drag and Drop
Features
Read full description

Zavala is a modern take on a traditional outliner. It is a full featured app. It takes full advantage of your device by leveraging gestures, keyboard shortcuts, and multiple windows. Other features: * OPML import & export * Markdown import & export * HTML import & export * iCloud syncing * iCloud sharing with other iCloud users * Encrypted outlines and encrypted iCloud sync * Nested Tags for organizing Outlines * Support for embedding images * Print support * Drag and drop * Text formatting * Links * Completed items * Notes * Customizable fonts and sizes * Backlinks * Shortcuts support * Web clipper share extension * Typewriter scrolling * Automatic row numbering including Decimal and Legal numbering

About

MarkWell

A native bookmark manager for Mac, iPhone, and iPad that syncs bookmarks across devices using iCloud. Organize links with tags and save them from any app via the system share sheet. Prioritizes user privacy with no account or analytics.

Highlights
  • Save links from any app
  • Organize with tags, not folders
  • End-to-end iCloud sync
  • Privacy-first design
  • Fetch title and favicon automatically
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

MarkWell is a native bookmark manager for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Save links from anywhere, organize them with tags, and find them again later — across all your devices, with no separate account to manage. SAVE FROM ANYWHERE Share any URL from Safari, Mail, Messages, or any other app, straight into MarkWell using the system share sheet. The app fetches the page's title and favicon for you, so the bookmark looks right the moment it lands. TAGS, NOT FOLDERS Tag a link with as many ideas as it has. Filter the sidebar by tag to find things by mood, topic, or project — whatever sticks in your head. No nested folders to maintain, no rigid structure to fight against. IN YOUR MENU BAR On the Mac, MarkWell can run from the menu bar instead of the Dock. Its menu adds a bookmark, brings the window back, and quits — or set a single click on the icon to open New Bookmark straight away. SYNCED THROUGH YOUR OWN ICLOUD Bookmarks sync end-to-end through your own iCloud account using Apple's CloudKit framework. There is no MarkWell account, no MarkWell server, and no analytics. Your data stays under your Apple ID, and the same bookmark you save on your iPhone shows up on your Mac a few seconds later. BRING YOUR BROWSER BOOKMARKS Import the bookmarks file that Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, or Vivaldi exports. Folders become tags, so the way you sorted things comes with you, and duplicates are flagged before they land. Export your library any time — as JSON for a complete MarkWell backup, or as a standard bookmarks file any browser can import. PRIVACY-FIRST MarkWell collects nothing. The only network call the app makes on its own is to read the title and favicon of a URL when you save it. There are no third-party SDKs, no advertising, no telemetry. The privacy policy at bendansby.com/apps/markwell/privacy.html spells it out in detail. REQUIREMENTS - Mac running macOS 14 Sonoma or later - iPhone or iPad running iOS / iPadOS 17 or later - Optional: iCloud account for cross-device sync (works fully offline without one) Feedback welcome — ben.dansby@gmail.com.

Screenshots

Zavala2 screens
MarkWell4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Zavala at Free against MarkWell's $9.99. Zavala also leads on ratings volume (70 vs 1). MarkWell's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 88%) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On rating, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Zavala is free to download; MarkWell costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

MarkWell holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Zavala has 70 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 88% of Zavala's written reviews are positive against 100% of MarkWell's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Zavala versus MarkWell: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZavalaMarkWell
PriceFree — better$9.99
Rating4.8 (70 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews87.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings70 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVincode, IncBenjamin Dansby

Customer experience

Zavala

All ratings69 ratings
Positive97.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews65 reviews
Positive87.7%
Neutral3.1%
Negative9.2%

MarkWell

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Zavala

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • Broken sync between iPhone and Mac
  • iCloud database incompatibility
  • Unable to format using toolbar
  • Lost outline after update
  • Sidebar not available
Show 4 more
  • Cannot open outlines from Document Provider
  • App crashes on M1
  • IME input ignored in body text (Japanese)
  • Abstürze beim Anlegen des ersten Dokuments (M1)

Requested features

15 requests
  • Continue releasing macOS builds for older versions
  • Legacy database option for iOS apps
  • Cross-platform support
  • Ability to change tag and outline list order manually
  • Support for hiding notes
Show 10 more
  • Typewriter scroll mode
  • Due dates on the right of the note
  • Font color change
  • Multi-select for dragging
  • Copy and paste lines
  • Option to use system fonts
  • Full screen document view with swipe gesture
  • Adjust line spacing
  • Improve drag and drop behavior on Mac
  • Sync via Nextcloud

MarkWell

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Zavala

No in-app purchases

None

MarkWell

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Zavala free?
Zavala is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is MarkWell free?
MarkWell costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Zavala or MarkWell?
MarkWell is rated higher. Zavala averages 4.8 out of 5 from 70 ratings, while MarkWell averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Zavala or MarkWell have ads?
Neither Zavala nor MarkWell shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Zavala or MarkWell?
Zavala ships an update every 2 weeks, and MarkWell every 2 weeks. Most recently, Zavala was updated on November 3, 2026 and MarkWell on November 5, 2026.

Other comparisons